Just Dance

Did you see yesterday that Google is formally adding "undo send" functionality to email? Oh my stars where was this when I was in college? Or out of college for that matter. Not that we used email with great frequency in university. We were all about AOL's IM platform. I used to ping my roommate while she sat seven feet away. One time, I sent my father an IM and he responded "what is this?" I still have to chortle. This was long before voice and text messaging defined communications. People still had pagers. Not a one of my friends had a cell phone in the early days of university. In fact, my first cell phone was a navy blue Nokia that yours truly procured when I moved to Germany. SmartPhones were but a twinkle in someone's eye. Frankly, I cannot remember how we all managed to be in the same place the same time. We were probably old fashioned and kept date books. We all lived in the same dorm so that helped. Well, most of us did at least. I used to download music with Napster and jam up the household phone line. In fact, the first song I downloaded was Journey's Wheel in the Sky. I had heard it on a Soprano's episode. Yes, we watched Soprano's in real time. Sex and the City too. Those were the good old days of television.

In terms of technology, we thought we were hot-to-trot with *69 on the telephones. To my generation, this was advanced, face saving technology and for a few of us, this functionality was of particular importance. You see, during my senior year at Chapel Hill, Friday afternoons were dedicated to good old fashioned cold crank calling executed by yours truly. We all congregated at our little bungalow on North Street. After a few Fridays of successful pranks, this was the place to be after class (or if you felt the need to skip class, also your call). My nearest and dearest would enter through the back door and with heavy book bags slamming to the ground, gals took their seats around our living room. Most were armed with grub in styrofoam boxes, all compliments of the great Chef Kris's kitchen at the Pi Beta Phi House. Fried Fridays were supreme. I have very fond memories of that kitchen and the brilliant woman at its helm. Once everyone was settled, members of my posse took turns at reading aloud phone numbers from adverts in the Daily Tarheel. Others had friends whose goats needed to be get. There was one young man who was particularly nasty and he was the most fun to invitingly badger. We launched a campaign to "put folks faces on Franklin Street". This was the most masterful ploy of them all. These crank calls extended to the wee hours of the night when we needed breaks from studying during exams. Friday calls became our thing and we continuously developed our messages. We had a couple of characters that left us roaring with laughter. I speak for myself here but in my book, laughter and a bit of old fashioned fun are the very best ways to ignite a weekend. Or survive exams for that matter.

Technology both old and new, late nights as well as pranks aside, the summer quite simply invites grilling. Honestly, it is a girl's best friend in the meal prep department. Let the meat speak for itself! As accompaniment  pull together a pair of salads or veggies and you are good to go. Heck, you can even throw the veggies on the grill too! My favorite salad is mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, goat cheese and a vinaigrette of lemon juice and olive oil. It is as simple as that. Nearly everything tastes better once it has danced with a bit of smoke and leaves the heat with a sexy char on the exterior. It is uber important to ensure that your meat gets a nice marinade or rub a pair of hours (or overnight in some cases if your ducks are in a row) before its cooked. Chicken can break down easily with marinades so two hours is usually the golden number for letting it bathe. The below rub is fabulous and lends subtle flavor to a cost effective and easy cut of meat. Remember to cut against the grain and serve on a platter. When food comes off the grill, I prefer dining al fresco but with this heat, I'll pass. Happy summer grubbing friends. 

Dry Rub

Ingredients

Beef - I used a 1 lb cut of London Broil though sirloin or flank steak will work too

1 TBS of each:

Paprika

Cumin

Coriander

Cinnamon

Brown Sugar

Ancho Chili Powder

Kosher Salt

*Please note that the above mix yields a lot so you can put half away for a later use.

Work It

1. In a small bowl, add the above spices and mix together until uniform. Take the salt and rub it all over your meat. Now take the mix and generously rub it over your meat. Wrap your meat in cellophane and put in the fridge for a couple of hours or over night. Do your thing on the grill and serve medium rare. As Tony says, ordering it so is one's patriotic duty.